


You F%@#ed Up A Perfectly Good Crab Monster Is What You Did

by KilotheMonster



Series: Kanapu: Storm Eel of the East [1]
Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Codependency, Denial, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hate Sex, Mild S&M, Monster On Monster Action, Other, Physical Abuse, Post-Canon, Power Dynamics, Sadism, Sea Monsters, Vore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-13 01:10:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9099817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KilotheMonster/pseuds/KilotheMonster
Summary: When you're one of the biggest monsters in Lalotai, it's easy to feel like "The Big Bad". But there's always bigger monsters down here, and they totally will steal your theme song while trying to eat you.





	1. A Shiny Reprise

**Author's Note:**

> For reference, Kanapu: https://68.media.tumblr.com/ac250554efd769f10d36f474bae61e8e/tumblr_oipqi00Jtt1qdwbcpo1_1280.jpg
> 
> I'll just state right off the bat that I have no idea where this is going to end up. Enjoy the ride.

It is not everyday that a meal gets delivered to one's doorstep in a metaphorical shiny bow, but perhaps it could have been something less...loud. 

Keeping low, Kanapu lifted two of their eyes just above the lip of the rock formation to confirm what had been part of the disturbance outside of their hole: A crab. The eel ran their tongue along their lips.

Crustaceans were not so easy to come by in Lalotai, and this was one was too large to normally be considered prey being roughly one-third the eel's size. What Kanapu really had to worry about were those massive claws; they were enough to cause mortal damage in a skirmish. But this crab, having been flipped onto his back from an eruption of steam, had no escape. If the eel could get in close enough for a shock, the crab wouldn't put up much of a fight.

Obscured by the wafting steam, Kanapu observed the crab's feeble attempts to turn himself upright. As he rocked helplessly side to side, the eel caught glimpses of the gold he had adorned himself with. A lot of good that has done for him, Kanapu smirked.

The crab may have had little to worry as far as predators go from size alone, but affixing bright objects to one's self in such excess, it did not make much sense to the eel. Bioluminescence was Kanapu's weapon of choice lure prey into their lair, so it was not as if the eel did not understand the strategy of being eye-catching. But what use is there for shiny adornments if one already has bioluminescence, which Kanapu knew this crab did? Was it not enough? What would drive a creature to behave this way?

The eel continued to watch the crab struggle. At some point, the crab had even resorted to making a plea for help from unseen gods...but nobody came. The crab crossed his claws in a contemptuous pout. Kanapu's eyes dilated. Now was as good of a time as any to strike.

"So..." the eel started. “I've heard you haven’t always been this glam..." 

Alerted, the crab's eyestalks and antennae frantically darted about to detect the source of the voice. Still hidden by steam, Kanapu's head rose from the rocks like a shadow, their four glowing eyes meeting the crab's shaken two. He froze.

" _You were a drab little crab once..._ " The eel began to sing with a false tone of pity and concern. " _Thought you knew you'd be happy as a clam, just being beautiful, baby._ " 

The eel swayed in the steam at a slow tempo, but they never broke their deadly stare with the crab. His face had twisted in combination of fear and confusion and anger. This other monster was singing HIS song at him. Should he be flattered? Or maybe more angry at this obvious infringement of intellectual property? The crab would've even argued that the eel was getting it all wrong, if he weren't so sure something bad was about to happen.

" _But it didn't fill that hole in your heart, Feeling empty on the inside. Didn't think your shiny world could fall apart..._ "

With dramatic timing of a steam surge, Kanapu lunged forward with a bellowing roar, revealing bared teeth and a bright glow. " _ **IT'S ALL A LIE!**_ " 

Startled, the crab began to flail all of his appendages in a last ditch attempt to defend himself from the hungry eel monster descending upon him.

" _Because you feel tiny! Life’s become such a sorry, hopeless wreck!_ "

Keeping just out of reach of the crab’s snapping claws, Kanapu slipped their tail into the sand and beneath the crab to lift him up into the air.

" _Off the deck! You’ll always be tiny! It doesn’t matter how big you’ll ever get. Just a speck, don'tcha know?_ "

With a fluid, controlled motion, Kanapu spun the disoriented crustacean around on their tail. The start was slow, but with each pass, the eel began to increase the speed. Bits of treasure were even starting to fall off the crab's body as it went.

" _You can try, try, try, but you can’t hide in all the glitter, beginner._ "

Kanapu made a point to bounce the crab on tempo as well. If the crab had a weak stomach, he certainly would have lost it by this point.

" _You will die, die, die, all alone and very bitter, ha, fish dinner!_ "

The crab couldn't find much relief when the spinning had stopped. He opened his eyes to now stare face to upside-down face with the enormous eel, whose toothy grin only got wider as their intense glowing eyes blazed brighter. The crab dodged the eel's chilling hot gaze to look at the ground where his trinkets and treasures had fallen into the sand below. 

It didn't take much for Kanapu to notice where the crab was looking and the melody then turned more ominous.

" _All of these things never silence your longing for more than just treasure you thought you had wanted_."

The eel's head tendrils grabbed at the crab's eyestalks and forced him to look eye to eyes.

" _Maybe you’re tough, But your armor’s just a hollow husk!_ "

Drawing from the power within their body, Kanapu launched the crab up into the air with a _ZAP!_ He flipped like a gold coin.

" _Sorry! Didn’t mean to sound so whiny! Never seen someone this tiny!_ "

The crab came crashing back down head first into the sand. Before his legs could get any solid footing to pull himself out, Kanapu lifted the crab up into the air with their tail once again. At least this time he was upright, but it hardly mattered as the crab's head was still ringing from the shock.

" _Soak it in ‘cause it’s the most you’ll ever be. C'est la vie, mon amie._ "

The eel's glowing whiskers along their mouth traced the dazed crab's face and body in a rabid, hungry furor.

" _I said tiny! None will ever hear your precious little plea, 'Look at me...'_ "

The blurred image of the eel before him was slowly beginning form something coherent as the crab regained focus. Unfortunately for him, what he saw was Kanapu's jaw opening wider as they dangled the crab towards their mouth. Despite how bright the eel's glow was, everything seemed to be going dark for the crab. A most un-glamorous end.

" _You’ll never be more than tiny. You wish you could be more than tiny!_ "

And as the final note rang from Kanapu's throat, their jaw came down onto the crab’s head...


	2. Impasse

...This was not the outcome Kanapu had expected. 

The annoying, loud crab was supposed be stunned and drowning in a sea of self-loathing after Kanapu had performed their own clever rendition of the crab's tune. The crab wasn't meant to care at this point that he was being eaten by the eel.

Yet, here they were…

The crab's head was currently locked in Kanapu's maw, but at the same time, the crab's claws were locked around the eel's neck. Any attempt to eat the crab further would undoubtedly end with losing their head. Kanapu, however, would be sure that if the crab were to decapitate them, they would crush the crab's head into paste with their dying breath.

How could the will of a flashy narcissist crab have held up against the cunning of an eel? Kanapu recalculated everything up to this point as the two monsters were locked in their stalemate.

From what Kanapu had gathered listening from the underground, the crab had been bested by a mere human. How had the crab lived for this long to get this big if only to be defeated by something so insignificant. The crab should have been been overtaken quickly. 

A full electric shock would have made short work of the crab, but there was no sport in that. It was so much more fun when the prey gave up themselves. Kanapu was sure they were not wrong about the crab trying to compensate for inadequacy, but why does he continue to resist?

"Being stuck upside down was better than this," the crab mumbled in Kanapu's jaws.

"This is hardly pleasant for me either," is what Kanapu had tried to say, but it was difficult talking around a crab head. They had a feeling the crab had understood more or less.

"This is what you get for saying all those - untrue things about me," he retorted.

Kanapu's eyes narrowed and increased the pressure of their bite momentarily, but the crab retaliated in kind by pinching the eel's neck with equal force. It was clear that these monsters were committed to mutually assured destruction.

Kanapu deduced from the crab's remarks just then that it did not appear that the crab took the eel's song to heart. Or, at the very least, he's just saving face. Denial is persistent, but there was a crack in the crab's proverbial armor, that was of no doubt to Kanapu. How loathsome that they could not have seized the opportunity proper.

The two sat there for a time. The crab would periodically squirm, his legs flailing and digging into the sand away from the eel, but getting nowhere. Kanapu would also try to wiggle their body back toward the steam vents, but the crab stood firm, even with a portion of one of his legs missing.

As the two rested between struggles, Kanapu noted the taste of the crab on their tongue. There was a metallic hint to it. All that gold on his carapace was disappointing, but the eel determined that they could endure it to get into the flesh within the crab's exoskeleton. Kanapu's mouth watered at the thought, causing the crab to squirm in disgust and snapping the eel out of the fantasy. They shifted their jaw and tongue position to speak a little more clearly while still holding the crab firmly in place.

"We could be here for an eternity, " Kanapu said with a sigh. "We're also completely exposed..."

"That's your fault," said the crab.

Kanapu growled. If the crab was trying to get under their skin, it was almost working. How dare he get so bold, Kanapu thought. Trotting around with all that gaudy, flashy gold on his carapace, singing about how shiny he is. This little crab needed to be put back in his proper place in the food chain, but the eel soon remembered they were still stuck. They had to make peace, if only temporarily.

"You're a reasonable monster," Kanapu said, at last. "A truce should be in order."

"YOU TRIED TO EAT ME!" the crab shouted, but not enough to catch the interest of any other monsters that may have happened to be lurking nearby.

"Yes." Kanapu paused to think of how to proceed without revealing to the crab that they miscalculated. "But look, I have helped you off your back. Had I not appeared, who knows what else might have got you? There's always bigger monsters..."

"I trust you as far as I can throw you, eel." The crab paused. "Which...you float, so I'm actually not entirely sure how that works, but let's just assume not far at all!"

"I am a monster of my word, if that comforts you," Kanapu replied.

"It doesn't," said the crab. "Your words are poison."

"I feel as though killing you now, little crab...it would not be quite as entertaining as letting you live." Kanapu chuckled and the crab struggled again. "You've...amused me. That does not happen often down here in Lalotai..."

Kanapu couldn't see whatever face the crab was making in his silence, but they sensed they had struck some chord.

"So perhaps my assessment of you and your worth was not - entirely complete," the eel continued.

"You were wrong, yes. You've got that much right."

Kanapu flinched. "Not wrong, little crab. You are just too blinded by your rubbish glitter to see...yet!" The eels words dripped with venom, but they held back from going further. They still needed the crab to let go willingly after all.

"Call me little crab one more time, I dare you..." he growled darkly.

"Oh. My manners," Kanapu sneered. "Tomato, was it?"

"TAMATOA!" the crab shouted with an accompanying pinch on Kanapu's throat.

"I must have misheard," Kanapu lied. The eel couldn't dare let Tamatoa think they were equals. "I thought Tomato was an odd name for someone who is not red."

"Starting to sound like you don't want me to let go of you, eel!"

"Perhaps. I am starting to enjoy your company, Tamatoa," Kanapu purred.

Tamatoa hesitated. The eel reckoned that was not something he heard often.

"I'd rather be picking up my treasures you rudely knocked off me!" he finally replied.

"Then we are in agreement that this situation is unfavorable, yes? Shall you count or shall I?"

"Uh, from three!" Tamatoa began. The countdown was slow and shaky as both monsters tensed up, ready to spring.

"NOW!" they shouted in unison.

Kanapu felt the claws loosen just as they released their toothy grip on the crab's head. Tamatoa skittered backwards so fast he almost managed to lose balance from his legs tripping over one another. His claws were raised for any impending attack, but Kanapu had already darted back into the steam vent with a flash.

Tamatoa stood frozen until he was sure the eel was gone. Then slowly, he began to pick up the trinkets from the sand that had been dislodged from the hoard on his back. He examined them carefully for damage before placing them where they should go.

It had certainly been a day. Perhaps several days. A week? More? Tamatoa wasn't keeping track of time. And he hadn't noticed that he had been examining the little treasures in his claw for much longer than normal.

Kanapu noticed, however, peering silently from the vent, hidden in the rising steam. The enthusiasm in the crab's demeanor had changed. 

Kanapu will have to keep several eyes on him, they decided.

There is more fun to be had...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obligatory illustration: https://68.media.tumblr.com/e5a028622915c80b99fcaf0476bbd2d5/tumblr_oirp3dPIcV1qdwbcpo1_540.png


	3. To the Victor Go the Spoils

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's see what Tamatoa is up to. A safe and shorter chapter.

One of the last shiny trinkets remaining on the sand was a large, ornate golden disk.

Intricate designs and shimmering jewels lined the outer edges with the innermost areas still smooth and bright. While Tamatoa did not care much about the craft and care that went into such a treasure, it did make a great shine under even the dimmest lighting.

This golden disk, however, had fallen near the steam vent that not only knocked Tamatoa on his back in the first place, but it was also the last sighting of the the eel that had tried to eat him. The treasure was as good as gone as far as Tamatoa was concerned. At least, what he had thought for a time.

But the glint from the disk would always catch the crab’s eye when he peeked out of the now open entrance of his shelled lair. The temptation was strong, but Tamatoa was not stupid. He never saw that eel leave. They could have very well been counting on Tamatoa going to get it and would pounce as soon as he got within reach. Eels are bastards like that and that was just a risk the crab wasn’t willing to take.

However, the longer Tamatoa went without seeing any sign of the eel, the memory of the eel’s thrashing stung a little less. So the crab grew a little bolder.

The disk itself did not hold any sentimental value to Tamatoa, but it was the principle of it. Not getting the trinket out of fear would mean that the eel won. After losing the insufferable demigod’s hook, the chance to eat said demigod, the chance to take the heart of Te Fiti for himself, and just losing in general to a human of all things, Tamatoa needed a victory. Just one. Any victory would do. Desperate times call for desperate - wait, no, desperate sounds all wrong. Tamatoa was not desperate, he asserted. He just wanted what was rightfully his. After all he’s been through, he more than deserves it.

Retrieving that piece of treasure was going to be that victory.

The crab watched the steam vents for any trace of the eel for a time. Once committed to this mission, he found it harder to concentrate on anything else. If he did not keep watch, the eel could slip past and ambush him. Chances were good that the eel was watching him too, biding their time for the perfect strike. And there was still a period of uncounted time where the eel could have slunk away. Tamatoa did not sleep for a good while.

Once he had lost all patience for the eel to show themselves, Tamatoa decided it was time to make a move. His antennae swung over toward the direction of the vent, searching with for any sign the eel could still be in there. If they were, the steam was hiding them very well, both by sight and smell. Tamatoa could only make the assumption that the eel was both present and not present in that hole at the same time; Schrodinger's Eel.

Being a large crab covered in all things that shine, Tamatoa resigned to losing the element of surprise in this situation. The eel would see him coming from several miles away. That is, if they did not hear him first, either from his heavy steps or the jingle of the loose treasures on his back.

Still, Tamatoa thought to keep himself low to the ground, turning himself so he approached the vent sideways. Like a…crab walk. Or is that just a regular walk since the crab part is already implied? Maybe this wasn’t the best time to consider such semantics. Not when there’s giant hungry eel lurking about.

The first few steps were tentative, but Tamatoa soon picked up speed. Being cautious wasn’t going to help him. He just needed to brute force and speed run this mission, stealth be damned. Soon, the crab was upon the the disk and with an outstretched claw, it was snatched up from the sand.

“Aha!” Tamatoa exclaimed before realizing his outburst.

He stood still in fear like a giant shiny crab statue. He craned his eyestalks toward the steaming hole in the rocks. Silence. Not wanting to linger there any longer, Tamatoa scuttled back toward the entrance of his lair, eyes never looking away from the vent. 

He was home free. The eel must have ran away. Of course they would. The great Tamatoa left a mark on that eel’s neck that they would not ever forget. How could a monster with no armor have made it so far in Lalotai, anyway? Lalotai wasn’t kind to those without armor, after all. But armor wasn’t everything, was it? Wait, no, that’s ridiculous. That’s not how a winner thinks, and clearly now Tamatoa was the victor in this stupid mind game.

He had been so worried over nothing.

Tamatoa stopped just shy of the entrance, now certain that he was safe. In his victory, he took a moment to examine the condition of the large disk that was now dwarfed in his humongous claw. Tamatoa's crabulous visage reflected back at him.

As well as two pairs of bright pink eyes.

“...oh.” he muttered.

“Just couldn’t help yourself, could you, Tamatoa?”


	4. Lightning Always Strikes Twice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now it's starting to get "fun", though that depends entirely on your definition. For Kanapu, it's not fun at all, as Tamatoa will soon learn.

The eel’s glowing smirk hovered behind Tamatoa’s reflection on the golden disk like a cheshire grin. It was disgusting how the smugness oozed off Kanapu’s serpentine body as they sat just high enough to be looking down on the crab.

They had been hiding in Tamatoa’s lair while he had been retrieving the trinket. The eel slipped by using one of the many tunnels in the earth of Lalotai, some made by Tamatoa himself even. From the underground, Kanapu could still watch the crab’s every move just by sensing vibrations and electrical fields like a kind of SONAR. Coordinating an ambush was easy with these at the eel’s disposal.

“Look,” Tamatoa began, continuing to look at Kanapu through their reflection as though a direct stare would turn him to stone. “If this is going to turn into one of those lectures about how the real treasure in life is friendship or what have you, first, I'll be sick. Then, I'm gonna rub your face in it and make you eat it.”

“Friendship?!” Kanapu scoffed. “No, no, no. Of course not! Other people are a blight, not treasures. Or perhaps I should say, monsters are...There’s no difference between the two. Everyone is a monster, eventually.”

Tamatoa’s face formed a puzzled yet slightly amused expression. “Right? I tried that friend thing once.” Tamatoa paused with a frown, choosing his next words carefully. “Once was enough.”

Kanapu chuckled with uncharacteristic softness. It was disarming. Before Tamatoa could relax, however, the eel’s laughter subsided into another dark smile. “I’m just here to make your sad, little life more miserable.”

The disk fell onto the ground once more as the crab’s claws opened with shock. His eyes whipped behind him and Kanapu could see the fear trembling within them. “Wait, no! That's not what - what about our truce!?”

“Our agreement was to not kill each other and I have no intention of ever killing you. I told you, I am a monster of my word.” Kanapu flashed their teeth in a crooked, sinister grin as the glow of their bioluminescence pulsed with excitement. “None of that says that I can’t make you wish you were dead.”

The surrounding atmosphere was unusually dry for Lalotai and Tamatoa could feel a prickly sensation developing, especially where gold had bonded along his carapace. Gliding through the air as if they were in water, Kanapu had already formed a ring around the crab with their body before he could evade. That was all the eel needed. Tamatoa barely knew what hit him in the moments that followed.

There was a loud _CRACK!_ The world turned a blinding white and full of pure agony as an intense voltage coursed through the crab’s now seized body. Everywhere his body was in contact with gold felt like it was ablaze with eternally damning fire. This wave of pain flashed throughout his body and then by the grace of some god, the pain ebbed. Kanapu could only sustain a momentary shock, but that just meant every time the crab thought he had a chance to catch a breath, electricity would jolt through his body once more. There was never enough time to react or retaliate.

Tamatoa had been in his fair share of scraps in his lifetime, fending off other residents of Lalotai. These battles were against teeth and claws and the occasional poison, something his exoskeleton could handle with the help of the metal affixed on it. He had no defense against electricity which went right through all of that, the gold providing a perfect pathway across and into his body. It was as if his entire body had been pierced by all of the teeth that were made of despair and burning everywhere. Even that one time Tamatoa had fallen into an anemone was not as tormented as this.

How long this all had gone on, he couldn’t be sure. It felt like an eternity. 

Tamatoa’s legs gave up trying to keep him standing. After the last shock, his body collapsed to the ground with a hard thud. His head hung limp with eyes closed, mouth open, tongue out, and eyestalks dangling. His antennae weakly whipped around in confusion as smoke rose off the gold on his body. Tamatoa had no sense of where he was or why any of this was happening. And before this, he had not slept or eaten all the while he was looking out for the eel. This was misery. If crabs could cry, Tamatoa might’ve been close to it, but right now he was just struggling to be somewhat conscious and failing.

Continuing to circle like a shark, Kanapu nodded in mild satisfaction of their handiwork. Tamatoa was thoroughly stunned and paralyzed with pain. They could have stopped here if they had wanted. Keywords: If they had wanted. Kanapu’s whiskers traced the developing scar upon their neck from where they had been trapped in Tamatoa’s grip. The eel’s lightning blue glow got brighter and pulsed more furiously while their expression remained calm and cold.

“You will be thanking me by the end this,” the eel said to the other monster with sing-song cheer. Tamatoa heard this but couldn't muster any outward reaction to it. The crab was pretty sure he had heard someone tell him this before and it chilled him. Kanapu dipped their head to grab one of Tamatoa’s small back legs with their mouth. The rest of his legs and claws dragged through the sand like a ragdoll as the eel pulled him back through the entrance of his shell lair inside.

What could be more salt in the wound than to be beaten inside one’s nest of safety and comfort. There will be none of that for Tamatoa anymore. Not without any say from Kanapu.


	5. Rise and Shine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tamatoa has a house guest. Things get weird...er.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ran longer than the others so I apologize in advance for the abrupt cut off.
> 
> Here's another illo of Kanapu: https://68.media.tumblr.com/8cacbce02c0897c4ed18d0d318651671/tumblr_oj63v1rKjM1qdwbcpo1_1280.png

Perched on a ledge off to the side, Kanapu surveyed Tamatoa’s shell home. Well, half of their body was perched. The rest of it dangled off the edge and sat along the wall among the plants and corals. This shell was not intended for more than one giant monster occupant, but at least Kanapu could occupy the vertical space as necessary.

Tamatoa was sprawled in the center of his home under the central light. He had lost consciousness, so for now it was just a waiting game. It’s not fun when they don’t feel it. While the eel could have tried to shock him back awake, Kanapu was tired as well. Producing all that electricity at that voltage took a lot of energy. Not only does it power their attack, but also allows Kanapu to hover and propel themselves in the air, so they were fine with giving it a rest for now. 

Kanapu could see the glimmer of teeming fish in the ocean overhead, a reminder that the eel also hadn’t had a decent meal in a while. But that would require Kanapu to lift themselves up there, and the eel was already settled in their place. The opening was also too bright, as Kanapu was accustomed to living in the darkness of the underground. They didn’t understand how Tamatoa could tolerate, much less enjoy, all this excessive shine.

The crab was by far the brightest thing in the room. Kanapu admired the scorch marks they had made upon the crab’s carapace. There was no denying that Kanapu was the one to leave those marks, and for the eel, that was satisfying. Kanapu’s idle whiskers examined the mark left by Tamatoa again. The eel had many scars upon their body, but this one would be the biggest by far. Kanapu was marked, too.

Loose golden treasures and shimmering shells were littered all about the floor, as well as the ledge Kanapu sat on. The eel idly flicked those nearby with their head tendrils toward the sleeping crab. It was mildly entertaining. Hitting his body was three points. His legs and claws were five points. Hitting him in the face was ten points and if the object stuck there, it was twenty-five points. Kanapu racked up a solid one hundred and thirty-six points by the time Tamatoa began to stir with a groan. A couple of shells slid off his face as he winced in pain.

His antennae twitched as one eye fluttered open. The other stayed closed and limp, as did the rest of Tamatoa. Trying to move any other part of his aching body was more than he could handle right now. It didn’t take long to realize that he was back in his lair as his eye recognized the familiar light and his antennae recognized the familiar smell. He was home, but that brought him little relief because he knew he did not get inside of his own power. Tamatoa’s eyestalk scanned the area.

“...there you are,” Tamatoa grumbled once he had spotted Kanapu’s silhouette on the ledge. 

“Rise and shine, little crab” Kanapu purred with a smile. Tamatoa just made a noise somewhere between a growl and a grunt. His other eye was open now, but they wobbled out of sync of each other as he lifted his head. The crab glared at the eel, who tilted their head with a faux-quizzical look. “Having a little trouble with the rising part, are you?”

“I can shine just as well right where I am,” Tamatoa lied, knowing that the eel also knew he was lying. For the first time in his recent memory, the light in his lair was bothering him too; his eyes struggled to focus. “Hey,” Tamatoa pointed his antennae toward the opalescent wall near Kanapu. “Try hitting your tail right...there.”

Kanapu’s eyes narrowed. Even in his hobbled state, this crab was still trying to call the shots. The eel didn’t care much for that. However, they were still not fully charged, so punishment will have to come later. Kanapu looked over to where their tail rested and back at the crab with a flat look.

“Just a tap,” Tamatoa sighed. “Can’t have you making another exit…” Kanapu was far too curious by this request to not give it a try. Kanapu lifted their tail and with a firm slap against the wall, Tamatoa’s lair began to turn dark as the skylight closed. Kanapu was not expecting this, but was more than pleased with the outcome. They were back in their proper element. There was still the soft glow of bioluminescent corals and algae, but it was dark enough.

The eel looked back at Tamatoa, who had rested his head on the ground again. Now that it was dark, the crab’s pink and blue bioluminescence was as clear as day. It seemed to glitch with weak and unintelligible pulsing. He was still out of sorts. Kanapu’s own glow was still pulsing wildly, showing far more excitement of the situation than Kanapu’s outward demeanor. The eel lifted themselves up and began to circle Tamatoa again at a very relaxed pace. 

The crab’s antennae twitched, but he kept his eyes closed. “Let’s get this over with,” he muttered.

“Aww, not even going to try to fight back, little crab?”

“Now that I know that’s what you want…no.” Tamatoa replied, a small smirk creeping onto his face.

The eel snarled, stopping so that their head was in front of Tamatoa. In such close quarters, he would have had little trouble grabbing Kanapu as they hovered above his claws. But just thinking about moving still hurt far too much for Tamatoa to do much of anything. At least it was funny to watch Kanapu squirm this way.

The eel’s cool, clammy whiskers investigated Tamatoa’s body with determination. Tamatoa frowned upon contact, his bioluminescence trying desperately to communicate his annoyance, but still not forming a proper sequence that could be understood. Not that Kanapu would have heeded their warning.

Static began to build at the tips of Kanapu’s whiskers and it wasn’t long before the eel tapped their appendages against Tamatoa’s neck for a small _zap_.

“Ow.” Tamatoa sighed, his eyes still tightly shut. The eel’s whiskers moved to the sides of his head and shocked him again. “Ow.” One rested on his chin. “OW!” Tamatoa’s eyes snapped open as he made a half-hearted attempt to bite the closest whisker that Kanapu drew back out of reach.

“There, see? You’ve still got some fight.” 

Tamatoa huffed and shrunk back toward his body again in refusal to play the eel’s game. His eyes crossed as Kanapu brought a whisker squarely between the his eyestalks. _Zap!_ Tamatoa’s eyelids relaxed and his eyes seemed to zone out for a moment before he shook his head back to reality.

“Wh-what ARE you doing?” Tamatoa asked with exasperation.

Kanapu’s four eyes blinked one by one and the eel tilted their head in genuine curiosity this time. “...What are YOU doing?”

“I asked you first!” said the crab as he gave Kanapu a suspicious look.

Kanapu ignored the question and concentrated on stepping down their internal voltage several notches. They lifted their whisker again.

“I’ll really bite you this time,” Tamatoa warned. Kanapu would have been elated to hear this declaration of resistance just a few moments ago, but now there was science to be done. Kanapu jerked their whisker forward between Tamatoa’s eyestalks again and released a small static discharge. His eyes immediately lost focus and his antennae drooped. Kanapu’s hypothesis seemed confirmed.

Tamatoa liked this.

This momentary trigger of a calming response was an oasis in a desert where the sand was needles of pain. Unfortunately for Tamatoa, the one who put him here was in control of this situation and Kanapu was enthralled by that power. By lowering the voltage, Kanapu was able to sustain a longer shock that was really just more of a tingling sensation on the tips of their whiskers. They pulled their body in more closely around Tamatoa and leaned in so that all of their whiskers were now focused on that one spot, sparking a small shiver throughout Tamatoa’s body.

Kanapu’s eyes dilated wide in consuming interest as he watched the crab monster lulled by their tender touch. The pink and blue glow on Tamatoa's face was signaling the pleasure of this contact, and for once, Kanapu could actually understand the sequence of the flashing light. They hardly noticed, however, that their own bioluminescence had fallen in sync with the crab.

Kanapu liked this too.


	6. Out of the Pan, Into the Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A game of gay chicken goes horribly wrong...or horribly right, depending on the perspective here.

To say life in Lalotai was harsh would be an understatement.

It was the realm of monsters, not the realm of rainbow candy unicorns. Monsters would not invite each other over for tea and have quaint conversations about the weather before ruthlessly disemboweling each other. Even when monsters were in season, it was often a hazardous affair getting so close to one another to satisfy their urges and still manage to walk away with all their limbs and life intact.

Intimate inter-monster relations was not something Kanapu looked to partake in often. In their younger days, they had occasionally joined with their brethren in ocean migrations that concluded with a swarming mass of euphoric energy and exchanging of fluids. But now at Kanapu’s age and size, they had become accustomed to the subdued solitary life. The eel could not say with much enthusiasm that there was any longing to return to the old days of heat and hormones.

Kanapu couldn’t explain, however, what they were doing right now. Causing Tamatoa excruciating amounts of pain was delightful in all the right, awful ways. It’s what monsters do and as far as the eel was concerned, Tamatoa deserved it for all his false arrogance. But to cause the crab intense pleasure - it was… Kanapu was so unfamiliar with this feeling that they had no word to describe it. Nice would imply good intentions, and Kanapu clearly had none of that. The eel wanted to humiliate Tamatoa in every way they could, and if that included making him want the soothing touch of his enemy to the point of begging, then that’s what Kanapu was going to do.

Kanapu’s snout was only inches away from Tamatoa’s glowing face. Their long whiskers crossed behind his head, wrapping around his eyestalks and resting their ends at the spot between them. While Tamatoa’s eyelids were open, his eyes themselves had rolled back into the stalks as if he were in a trace. The eel experimented with varying the intensity of the electric stimulation they were administering through their skin. The results ranged anywhere from quick twitches, soft sighs, and deep groans. 

Tamatoa knew full well that he was being used by Kanapu like a toy. But the crab had always been the vigilant opportunist. If there was an opportunity to indulge in simple physical pleasures, he wouldn’t stop the eel in that regard. Besides, if the eel was making him feel good, then they weren’t making him feel bad. Tamatoa had to make it so the eel liked making him feel good. Every noise he let escape from his slacked jaw seemed to goad the eel into getting more intense. They seemed drunk off the power. Not being able to move the rest of his body limited Tamatoa’s options in reciprocating contact, but he still had options.

The crab’s antennae were naturally drooped forward over Kanapu’s head. They weren’t dexterous like Kanapu’s whiskers, but Tamatoa could still control their basic movements. With the eel possessing no armor, all it would take, perhaps, was a soft brush along their smooth, exposed skin to elicit a response. So Tamatoa did just that, brushing the tips of his antennae up along Kanapu’s neck and the space just underneath their head tendrils.

Kanapu’s whiskers didn’t let go of Tamatoa, but the static pulses stopped for a moment as their eyes went wide. Kanapu stared at Tamatoa silence, their expression like stone. Now that the crab was really looking, he could see their bioluminescence flicker erratically. It didn’t take much to decipher that Kanapu had been flustered.

“Not used to being touched like that, are you?” Tamatoa smirked, brushing the eel again with lazy wink. Kanapu squinted one pair of eyes and their grip around his eyestalks tightened. Tamatoa wasn’t wrong, but Kanapu didn’t need the crab to remind them of how long it’s been since they’ve been in close contact with another monster. Their other pair of whiskers fell over Tamatoa’s mouth; a non-verbal cue to shut up. Any further conversation should remain within the coded signals of their glows, the eel flashed.

With that condition now established, Kanapu resumed generating energy and focused the sensation on the center of crab’s face with a repeating pattern of a long pulse followed by a short one. Tamatoa shivered again, but that didn’t stop him from using his antennae to tickle the eel once more with long, slow strokes. The static energy had seemed to have spread throughout Kanapu’s body as just the light touch of his antennae still tingled with electricity. The eel’s smaller pair of eyes closed halfway in contentment, but the larger eyes did not dare break their hungry gaze with Tamatoa.

The crab opened one eye to assess the eel’s disposition. They were still very much into this. He did realize, though, that Kanapu never took their other set of whiskers off his mouth, which still tingled with static. They weren’t doing a very good job at keeping Tamatoa’s mouth closed because he easily, and disgustingly, slurped them into his mouth, which managed to force Kanapu’s snout into the crab’s face.

All of Kanapu’s eyes were open now and their glow had fallen out of sync for a moment. Whatever this game was the eel had started, they had not expected it to take this turn. The crab was still defying their power by reciprocating, something Kanapu did not consider possible or consider that they would also enjoy it.

And now their whiskers were in the crab’s mouth.

Kanapu squirmed with apprehension, fully expecting Tamatoa to bite them off. It would have been a pain comparable to that which Kanapu dispensed on the crab since their whiskers were packed with sensitive nerves. The eel could feel his teeth brush on their tender appendages, but the crab only continued to lightly suck on them with the corners of his mouth upturned in a coy smile. Running his tongue along the whiskers as he did this sparked more static inside of his mouth. As odd as the sensation was, Tamatoa continued with these antagonizing motions.

Being a fish, Kanapu’s cold-blood could not get any warmer. However, their electrical impulses were becoming less controlled as the eel was losing their composure. Their whiskers could feel every suck and lick with disorienting intensity. Kanapu had severely underestimated how this interaction was going to play out and the incoherence of their bioluminescent pulses made their confusion clear. They had trouble keeping their body steady, wobbling in the air in a lopsided fashion. 

Kanapu closed their eyes in an attempt to focus what remained of their self-control to direct one last mild shock to the crab’s head and throughout his body, causing him to release the whiskers in his mouth.

The overstimulated eel let go of Tamatoa’s eyestalks and fell backwards into the corals and algae without any of their expected grace. Their eyes were wide as their body was writhing weakly. Their bioluminescence flickered with irregular but intense, bright pulses. As the dim glow of Tamatoa's lair came back into focus for Kanapu, the first thing they noticed was the crab’s big, barnacle encrusted grin looking down at them.

...Wait? Looking _down_ at them?

“Well, well, well...” Tamatoa growled.


	7. All Your Lovers Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tamatoa serves a dish best served cold: Murder.

Recall that by his nature, Tamatoa is an opportunist.

While he would have liked to have had a quiet moment to bask in the afterglow, there was an opportunity to take advantage of. Though a throbbing ache persisted throughout his body and he had only regained a fraction of his strength available to him, Tamatoa could will himself through the pain to get a leg or three up in this situation. 

“Looks like someone’s having trouble keeping cool…” Tamatoa hummed, restraining himself from breaking into song again. He didn't have as much of a vendetta against the eel to put the necessary effort into forming any suitable rhyme or meter.

The crab pinned Kanapu’s neck just under their jaw using the broadside of his left claw. The eel let out a hiss with teeth gnashing and body thrashing. They were still much larger than Tamatoa, which meant they could do considerable damage throwing their weight around an enclosed space like that. Not wanting to have to deal with any more home renovation, Tamatoa stepped over and leveraged his body so that most of his weight kept the eel’s head restrained still while his right claw grabbed one of the eel’s long flailing whiskers. Kanapu stopped wiggling almost instantly. This gave them time to see that Tamatoa’s glow was signaling something sinister.

“L-let’s be reasonable!” Kanapu’s voice wavered.

“Oh, but this _is_ reasonable, babe,” Tamatoa mused as he rolled the eel’s appendage in his claw. “Any good, reasonable monster would repay what’s given to them.” He pinched a little harder on Kanapu’s whisker and the eel rolled their head back into the floor in choking agony.

The crab could see why the eel might have enjoyed electrocuting him as a dark chuckle rumbled in his throat. Seeing the eel monster squirm beneath him was horribly satisfying. A little arousing, too, as Kanapu unintentionally rubbed against his abdomen curled under his body. But what was really thrilling was watching all that calm composure and control Kanapu had armed themselves with melt away to expose the eel's ultimate weakness and primal fear. Tamatoa remembered being in a situation like that once. Oh, right. The eel was the reason for most of that.

In an unpredictable pattern, Tamatoa would ease the pressure to allow the eel to gasp for air before resuming with more pressure nearly tenfold. He couldn't tell if the mild static pulses being emitted from Kanapu were weak attempts of self-defense or an involuntary reaction to the sensory overload. It could have easily been both.

At some point, however, the shocks ceased.

Kanapu’s body fell limp beneath the giant crab out of exhaustion. Their eyes were still open but they seemed to stare for miles. Tamatoa eased up on the pressure on Kanapu’s whiskers, but the glow of their bioluminescence continued to grow dim before blacking out entirely. If Tamatoa couldn't have sensed the air being drawn into the eel in shallow breaths, he might have thought he killed the eel. 

It was a relief that wasn't the case, and that surprised him.

Was it sympathy? Pity? This monster who had been terrorizing him with such toxic malice was in actuality an extremely vulnerable and pathetic creature. No, that thought just made Tamatoa all the more bitter that the eel had dominated him. But in that way, they had something in common now. Tamatoa wouldn’t admit that, though.

Ugh, this sort of thinking was making his stomach turn more. He wasn't thinking straight being so hungry like this. The thought crossed his mind to just eat Kanapu. Tamatoa had more reservations about eating his own grandmother when she died than he did about eating his enemies, but oddly enough, it just didn’t sound all that appetizing after all was said and done.

Tamatoa lifted his claw off Kanapu's neck and took a moment to examine the body, just to make sure he absolutely wasn't feeling up for a unagi dinner. Or was it breakfast already? Time was weird in Lalotai.

Lying on their back, Kanapu’s head tendrils were sprawled out in the sand and their tiny arms were tucked close over their chest. The crab had to wonder why the eel even had those arms...or are they legs? They didn’t seem to be very useful for anything and two was just an unusual number of legs in general. Without any electric blue glow, Kanapu was a solid deep blue that bordered on black. Patches of bioluminescent green algae was smeared over their perpetually moist skin from the struggle. It was enough light to see that the eel's body was peppered with fresh cuts and glistening blood from flailing against Tamatoa’s rugged exoskeleton. And then there was that scar across Kanapu’s neck from their first encounter, to which Tamatoa had no fond memories of. Still, his eyes lingered on that before the hunger pangs set in again.

None of this was very appetizing, Tamatoa concluded. Not in the dinner way, at least. He wasn’t sure if he was disappointed about that or not. For now, maybe it was better to just attend to the simple feelings such as hunger and sleepiness. Kanapu was not going to be a threat for a while.

Hunger was solved easily enough by opening the skylight again and attracting an entire school of hapless fish. Sleep was a little more difficult as the crab did not like the idea of sleeping with an eel still in his den. When it came trying to roll their body out of the shell, Tamatoa just didn't have the strength needed for such a task. So instead, he resigned to just dig up the ground in the center of his den, place himself in it, and shifted the sand back over himself. The treasure on his back was still exposed, but the crab just had to hope that he would not get a rude awakening in the form of a nasty shock from his house guest.

He gave the eel one last wary look before pulling his eyestalks into the loose earth. It would be so much easier to get over this whole ordeal if the next time he woke up, Kanapu was just gone. A sensible monster would run away after getting their butt handed to them by another monster, and the eel had touted themselves as being very sensible. 

When, after what felt like ages, Tamatoa was roused from sleep, one thing had been very clear immediately in his groggy haze:

Kanapu wasn’t as sensible as he thought.


	8. All That Glitters Is Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Science means nothing in Lalotai as long as it leads to comedic gold.

Waking up to the bright, glimmering lair of Tamatoa was quite the surprise to Kanapu.

They were certain the crab would finish them off as everything had begun to fade to black. But here they were, floundering in the treacherous sea of consciousness again. Their whiskers wandered about in the air aimlessly. With one whisker still numb, Kanapu was practically half-blind to all the incoming sensory information.

Trying to use the electromagnetic fields to fly out of the crab’s den would end with Kanapu crashing into everything without proper balance. It must also be mentioned that the eel was famished. Without a decent meal, it was hard to generate the necessary energy to hover. Overhead in the skylight, the silver shimmer of fish taunted Kanapu just out of reach now that they were grounded.

To think that living was now an inconvenient annoyance. Not only that, but they had to deal with the sour spite of that miserable life being spared by a monster like Tamatoa.

Speaking of whom, from what Kanapu could distinguish in the vibrations through the ground, he was sound asleep and dreaming of another grand performance. With Tamatoa being right underneath the skylight, attempting to get a bite to eat was risky affair. They’d inevitably fall onto the crab’s adorned back and rouse him from sleep. But Kanapu was starving, so regardless of their choice, this was going to hurt.

The eel's little legs trembled as they pull themselves over to the threshold of the ground and Tamatoa’s treasure hoard. The eel gazed up at the fish to judge the distance they’d have to stretch themselves to get their head onto the ocean. That’s all they’d need. They may have just enough energy left to give themselves a boost, too, but they couldn’t avoid using the slumbering crab monster as their foundation. Kanapu would need to be ready for another fight; they weren’t confident they had any chance to win this time. Still, the eel recalled that their life had been spared. There was a small chance that perhaps Tamatoa would not want a round two either.

Kanapu clambered onto the treasure mound and as the ground to began to shift underneath them, Tamatoa’s antennae sprung out of the ground like whips. Their long body stretched into the air, the eel focused on directing their energy on their lower half to boost themselves as their footing gave way. Kanapu’s head launched upward, mouth wide and bioluminescence pulsing, and it soon hit the cool water of the ocean. A mouthful of fish were trapped in a toothy cage before gravity took over again and Kanapu came crashing back down onto the now very awake Tamatoa flailing beneath them. With a quick body roll, Kanapu evaded the crab’s snapping claws and pressed themselves against the walls of his lair.

“Don't you have your own hole to go crawling back to?!” The crab sputtered in exasperation. He had really hoped that the eel would have been gone already so they could be purged from his mind like a bad, and weirdly erotic, nightmare.

With their head turned away, Kanapu swallowed the school of fish wiggling in their mouth. Though it was small, feeling the squirming mass travel down their throat was refreshing. Not a full meal and barely a snack, but it was enough to get their stomach to stop protesting in the meantime. Realizing that Tamatoa was not making an attempt to charge at them, Kanapu relaxed into a posture of feigned fearlessness and disinterest.

“I would have left by now,” Kanapu finally spoke. “But I simply do not have the energy required to lift myself to make an exit.”

“Yeah?” the crab huffed. “And what are those stubby little legs of yours for? Just walk yourself out!”

“Since you asked, these legs are for pleasuring mates, actually,” the eel sneered. “But they cannot carry me very far as a means of locomotion.”

Tamatoa tilted his head slightly, but decided he didn't want to go down that line of questioning right at this moment.

“Fine! If you won’t get yourself out, then I will.” Tamatoa clicked his claws, for dramatic effect.

Kanapu rolled their eyes at the intimidation display and flopped over to their side in faux-submission. Tamatoa skittered over sideways at the tail end of the eel and adjusted his stance so that he could use his body like a shovel in an attempt to bulldoze the eel out of his home. It was a valiant effort on the part of Tamatoa, but with Kanapu’s dead weight on top of him, he couldn’t move the eel by much this way.

As Tamatoa continued to push, a shimmer caught his eye. Several of them, actually. A closer examination revealed that the eel had his trinkets stuck to their body and lots of them. He quickly scuttled out from under Kanapu.

“Giving up already?” the eel yawned. “You’ve barely started.”

“Not giving up,” Tamatoa stated, his lips scrunched in a pout. “You’ve got my shine all over you. I'll need those back first. Every single one.”

Kanapu’s expression transformed into genuine alarm. Their four eyes scanned along their body, and sure enough, it was covered in Tamatoa’s glimmering treasures. “Ugh,” the eel wailed. “You’ve got your disgusting trash all over me!” 

“I don’t see how that is my fault,” said the crab. “You were rolling all over in it and on me. Not sure what you expected to happen.”

There was movement in the sand beneath Tamatoa. A bright, polished silver goblet rolled across the ground toward Kanapu. Just as the two monsters identified the strange sighting, the goblet flew up into the air and hit Kanapu between the eyes. That’s when Tamatoa lost it.

Kanapu was livid, desperately trying to get the treasure off their face with their head tendrils, as their little arm legs couldn’t reach their face. Was it their electromagnetic field attracting the treasure? The eel did not believe magnetism worked this way, but then again, Lalotai was a land beneath the entire ocean. When did physics ever work as one thought it should? More small treasures slowly moved toward the eel and clung to their body. This had to be some divine punishment, something the eel had come to expect. Kanapu just couldn’t believe the gods favored the pompous crab over them of all monsters.

“It’s - it’s really a good - look for you, babe,” Tamatoa wheezed in between his fits of laughter.

Hunched over and facing the wall, Kanapu had resigned to their glittery fate. “That is not my name.” 

“Oh ho ho, it is now,” he laughed as his claw wiped his eye.

“Fine. As you wish, Tomato,” Kanapu quipped before flopping back on the floor. “If you want your rubbish back, take it.”

Tamatoa made no attempt to stop himself from chuckling at Kanapu’s discomfort. He most definitely would need all those treasures back, but he was not in any rush to come to their aid. Seeing the eel compromised like this was icing on what had otherwise been a barely edible cake. While Tamatoa was not generous when it came sharing the wealth of his hoard, he began to experiment with different items to see whether or not they would stick to the eel’s body. With his enormous claw tenderly holding these various treasures, the crab held them out toward Kanapu until he felt the pull of their static field before letting go. Most would stick, which was odd considering they mostly consisted of gold, silver, and bronze as opposed to iron or copper. The science of it mattered very little to Tamatoa. This little delight was magic.

Against the dark deep blue of Kanapu’s wet skin, the treasure twinkled bright with the electric blue glow giving them a peculiar ethereal shine. Tamatoa only knew about stars from secondhand experience. If he had to guess from the description, though, they must have looked something like this. However, he doubted it was this wondrous. There were even trinkets embedded around the scar; his reminder. And now it was _his_ shine covering the eel’s body. It was something Kanapu could not escape from, and that was because, in part, of their own attraction. 

The crab had not forgotten the way their glow had pulsed so passionately in tune with his own. For as much as the eel claimed to despise Tamatoa, they were figuratively consumed by him in thoughts and motivation. In a twisted way, Kanapu was desperate for him. As this realization dawned, the crab remembered something else.

“Had your fill of laughs, have you?” Kanapu remarked, noticing that Tamatoa had stopped laughing. The eel glanced to see his knowing smirk, which gave them pause and a slight chill throughout their body.

“...What’d you say your legs were used for again, babe?” Tamatoa asked, his voice having fallen down an octave or two.


	9. Fifty Shines of Glow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanapu shows Tamatoa what their legs are used for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies this took so long, other than busy work schedule, I had tried to incorporate singing into it and that didn't work, making for a lot more editing. Guess I'll have to try again in another chapter. This chapter is also three times as long as the others. Enjoy the monster smut! It's only the beginning.

Sitting up on their legs, Kanapu blinked.

“What does that have to do- ?” they paused to take a deep breath while their head tendrils rubbed their temples. “If you are trying to suggest that they could be of any use to you...” Their legs crossed over their chest. “They aren’t.”

“But how sure are you?” asked Tamatoa. “Been with other crabs, eh?”

“The implications of how you said ‘been with’ disturbs me,” replied the eel, their face wrinkled in disgust. “You are covered in armor, which I can hardly imagine is as receptive to the sensation of touch as skin!”

“So you have thought about it.”

“Only because you put the idea in my head!”

Tamatoa’s grin grew even wider. “So you have an idea.”

“UGH!” Kanapu threw their head back against the wall in frustration with the unintended side effect of jostling the skylight closed again. At least with the den now dark, Kanapu could read Tamatoa’s bioluminescent signals better. Currently, it was glowing the equivalent of waggling eyebrows. Useful, considering Tamatoa had no actual eyebrows, though his eyes alone said enough.

“Look. Babe,” Tamatoa strutted a couple steps closer to Kanapu’s upper half when there was already not much space between them. He made sure to flash the shine on his back that now glowed a similar electric blue. “You aren’t fooling anyone except yourself. You’re obsessed with me.”

Kanapu snarled as they recovered from the temporary blindness from the obnoxious shine. “Obsessed with ending your inflated sense of yourself, maybe.”

“That’s still obsessed.”

“HA!” Kanapu flared out their tendrils wide, their glow bright and dangerous. “And YOU are so utterly starved for any kind of validation that you are bargaining intimate favors with a monster who takes the greatest pleasure causing you harm, all just to satisfy some lustful urge in an attempt to numb the doubts that creep from the shadow of your long absent mind!”

Tamatoa’s eyes returned from their slow wanderings in opposite directions to focus again on the eel. He did not look all that fazed. “What’s wrong with that? You certainly didn't mind before.”

Kanapu waved their legs around to gesture the nebulous nature of what had transpired earlier. “ _That_ was only because I wanted to humiliate you! I had failed to account that **you have no shame**.”

“I’ve got absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Ah yes, to think I had assumed that there must be something you are hiding beneath all this trash,” Kanapu grumbled as their claw picked at the treasures still magnetized to their skin.

“I’ve got nothing to hide, I can’t-”

“Yes,” Their long whiskers pursed the crab’s mouth shut. “ _You’re too shiny!_ ," they sung. “ _You’re the sunrise on the surface of the sea!_ ” Kanapu was awful at imitating Tamatoa, though that was the point.

__“Mm...watch me dazzle like a diamond in the rough, babe,” Tamatoa corrected, speaking around the eel’s whiskers. He worked on that song for a long time, so it was imperative that it was sung with all appropriate revisions._ _

__“This is how much I care.” Kanapu did nothing. Tamatoa gave a dramatic eye roll, only to stop downward to see that the eel hadn’t taken their whiskers off his mouth yet. His eyes darted back up to meet Kanapu’s, wide with the realization of their mistake._ _

__“Don’t you dare!” Kanapu hissed, pulling back their whiskers to narrowly miss Tamatoa licking them. Kanapu took a hostile stance with their glow flashing with high voltage. It was a less effective warning sign as Tamatoa was no longer looking at the eel’s furious gaze but captivated by their sparkling body. The celestial shimmer of their skin seemed expansive in the darkness, like a band of a galaxy in the night sky. Kanapu’s rapid glowing signal reflected light off the treasures in a subtle, mystifying shine. It was pushing all of the right buttons as far as Tamatoa was concerned._ _

__Meanwhile, Kanapu’s innards churned with mild discomfort. In Lalotai, being stared at this intensely usually soon followed with being someone else’s dinner. This sort of attention was particularly unnerving and coming from a monster the eel considered prey, it was downright disrespectful. A predator should not be flustered by prey._ _

__They rationalized that Tamatoa wasn’t looking at them but the treasure, considering that the crab did not even care to know their proper name. The treasure was his obsession and the treasure belonged to him. With it being on Kanapu’s body, the eel had become an extension of Tamatoa’s possessions and thus an extension of Tamatoa himself in a way. It was the only reasoning the eel could use to comprehend the crab’s overtly amorous behavior toward them, an enemy. Tamatoa would be that vain, Kanapu scoffed._ _

__Whatever fantasy was occupying his mind, Tamatoa still needed Kanapu’s willing and even enthusiastic participation to proceed. And it wasn't long before Kanapu realized that gave them power that they hungered, power in their otherwise compromised position._ _

__Kanapu decided. They’ll play this game of primal desires. They had little to lose this time and immense satisfaction should they win._ _

__Their lips curled into a soft smile as their irritated glow fluttered into a calming rhythmic pulse. “Forgive my dreadfully ill manner,” Kanapu cooed as they leaned against the curved wall to roll onto their back, the twinkling treasure on display. “You’ve been wanting to know what my legs were used for this whole time and I have been unaccommodating to such a simple request. How naughty of me.”_ _

__Considering it was only a moment before that the eel was snapping at his advances, Tamatoa was caught off guard. Well, it wasn't that surprising because any monster in Lalotai would throw themselves at his feet to soak in the shiny glory of this luminous crustacean. Though his vanity did blind him at times, Tamatoa wasn't that stupid. His instincts had him take a step back in anticipation of a surprise attack, but the eel had already curled their tail around him to remove any means for escape. Their tendrils swayed at a lazy pace above their head, leaving glowing trails in the air; their signature lure display. The glowing paws that rested on Kanapu’s glittering belly beckoned to Tamatoa with slow, seductive movements as an invitation to mount them._ _

__Despite sensing the eel had alterior motives, Tamatoa could hardly refuse, his glow falling into sync with the siren signal._ _

__He had not disagreed with what he managed to hear of the eel’s scathing criticism. Bruised couldn’t begin to describe the current state of his ego after all that had happened since his encounter with the human and that loathesome demigod. However, having the monster who tortured him now on their back in submission covered in his glittery treasures was an enticing ego-stroke, even with the likelihood of his power in this situation being an illusion. In Lalotai, one takes what they can get._ _

__With whiskers outstretched, the eel touched Tamatoa between his eyestalks as they had before, sending an electric shiver through his body followed by a calming wave. Kanapu drew the whiskers back toward themselves, and not wanting to break contact, Tamatoa followed onto the eel’s shimmering belly. Kanapu squirmed beneath him and used their tail to shift the crab closer to their head. It would be no good if their legs could not reach the crab’s abdomen curled beneath him. This brought the two monsters face to face and eye to eye. Such an intimate space for a pair of enemies._ _

__Kanapu’s two long whiskers crossed behind the crab’s head and wrapped themselves around his eyestalks again. They would constrict and release in an idle rhythm, massaging this tender area of the crab's body while the tips pulsed on his sweet spot. The other whiskers kept tight against their body. Kanapu didn't want them anywhere near Tamatoa’s mouth this time._ _

__While Kanapu may have not concerned with reciprocation, Tamatoa couldn’t just sit there while the eel had their way with him. Well, he could, but that was giving the eel too much control to be comfortable with considering what happened last time. The faint, lingering ache from Kanapu’s previous lashing, however, was beginning to melt away._ _

__Remembering that they had enjoyed when his antennae brushed along that area, Tamatoa slipped his large claws behind Kanapu’s head tendrils. He gave soft, encouraging strokes against Kanapu’s slick skin that involuntarily released low voltage static at the contact. The eel writhed as a reflex, rolling their body to rub against the crab’s underside, causing him to take hold more firmly with the rest of his legs._ _

__Kanapu, however, resolved to not get too distracted from the task at their hands as electricity tingled at their fingertips. This song and dance was an unfamiliar one. Tamatoa was covered in a hard shell and Kanapu never thought the anatomy of decapods was worth mentally cataloging beyond which parts were the tastiest. This was foreign territory._ _

__A deft search of his abdomen revealed to Kanapu the softer areas between the harder plates which seemed closer to flesh than shell. That, the eel could work with. They traced these regions with thorough curiosity. With Kanapu’s whiskers still at Tamatoa's head and now their hands at his abdomen, the two charged points allowed the small voltage to travel through his body like a hot chill. The sensation caused Tamatoa to seize up for a fraction of a second before the feeling subsided into a more relaxed warmth. He shuddered._ _

__“I can't help but notice...” Kanapu prodded the soft areas of Tamatoa’s abdomen as they purred, “There’s a lot meat on you.”_ _

__Tamatoa opened one eye. “And?”_ _

__“I enjoy meals with some extra fat.”_ _

__“If that’s you trying to give a compliment,” Tamatoa replied, both eyes now open and squinting with suspicion. “You are doing a terrible job.”_ _

__For any of this to work, there had to be some level of trust and Kanapu could not be trusted without some form of insurance. Removing one of his claws from behind their head, Tamatoa placed it open wide against the eel’s shimmering neck. Light pressure on Kanapu’s throat was enough to for their body tense in his grip._ _

__“Can’t have you trying to eating me again, babe.”_ _

__Kanapu hummed. Their long whiskers tightened as they tilted their head with mouth open to rest their teeth against Tamatoa’s neck. Their tongue grazed slowly against him like a warning in the trail of saliva in its wake. Both monsters experienced a moment of deja vu._ _

__“Still enjoying my company, hm?” Tamatoa smirked as the claw petting the back of Kanapu’s head moved to stroke one of the eel’s head tendrils between his pinchers. Though gentle, there was still a firm pressure in his grip, like an threat._ _

__Kanapu said nothing as they poked Tamatoa’s abdomen again with a stronger shock, causing him to jump in surprise. Not amused by Kanapu’s sass, he adjusted himself before digging his back set of claws into the sides of the eel to keep steady. Tamatoa felt the eel take a large gulp in the claw that held their neck, which was enough to satisfy his taste for a little revenge._ _

__“There are worse things to be doing with my time,” Kanapu responded, as they took a firm hold on the soft sides of Tamatoa’s abdomen and rolled their body upward to rub against his again. This time the contact released a larger area of static and the crab let out an involuntary gasp._ _

__“But nothing better, eh?” huffed Tamatoa as he recovered. His claw twisted just slightly as if to twirl the eel’s tendril before moving on to stroke another one._ _

__“Hm,” was all Kanapu said, since their honest answer would have upset the moment. They slid their claws over to the space between Tamatoa’s chest and abdomen. Kanapu tapped their fingers expectantly at this boundary, but proceeded no further._ _

__Tamatoa had good reason to hesitate uncurling himself. If there was any place particularly vulnerable on the crab, it was the underside of his abdomen currently against his chest. Monsters like Kanapu were the exact sort that he defended himself from in his drab little crab days. And now a monster like Kanapu had access to it in an far more intimate way that could do considerable damage._ _

__Kanapu picked up on Tamatoa’s apprehension from subtle change in the sequence of his glowing pulse. The eel liked the bit of fear, but it wasn’t helping with progress. One finger continued to trace this boundary tentatively as they released from their soft bite on the crab’s neck to speak more freely._ _

__“I will only go as far as you let me, Tamatoa.” The eel put particular emphasis on his name with a tone that could be read as reverence. It gave the crab chills that shook through his body. Kanapu pushed their neck against his claw while staring with wide, dilated eyes that studied every photon from the crab’s glow and every twitch on his face._ _

__“I am a monster of my word, remember?” they continued. “For as badly behaved as I’ve been, I have kept my word at the very least, haven't I? Here, in this moment between us, I am but a slave to your pleasures and yours only,” they crooned as they wriggled in a slow rhythm beneath Tamatoa to grind against him._ _

__The crab’s legs clutched against the eel’s slick body more tightly, though Kanapu was not rocking strong enough for him to be in any danger of falling off. Kanapu flashed a glow of excitement as they watched the conflict in the contorted expression of his face while his bioluminescence flittered wild and bright with anticipation. Tamatoa was quivering._ _

__With one more gentle zap of encouragement, the crab uncurled his abdomen with a strained gasp and sighed in what Kanapu interpreted as relief. His glow still showed some signs of anxiousness, though._ _

__“Do not worry, Tamatoa,” Kanapu purred, their whiskers stroking his face tenderly. “I will play nice.”_ _

__They used their body to keep crab’s abdomen from curling up again as they continued to paw hungrily at the plates of the crab’s underbelly. They might not have known much about crab anatomy, but they didn't have to look that hard in their search as one bulging plate revealed a new unfamiliar organ to the eel. Two of them, actually, and if Kanapu could have looked from a lower angle, they would see that they also glowed from blue to pink with the same intense pulse on Tamatoa’s face. How fortunate, Kanapu thought, as they had an adequate number of hands to attend to both simultaneously._ _

__As soon as their tingling fingers brushed along these appendages, Tamatoa shuddered deeply, trying to stifle a low groan but not succeeding. The eel could appreciate the soft, slickness of these organs as it was closer to what they would experience against the skin of another eel. And judging from Tamatoa’s reaction, they could be just as sensitive. With uncharacteristic playfulness, Kanapu pawed at these members in light, alternating stokes, chuckling as Tamatoa huffed with frustration that the eel insisted on teasing him._ _

__“All good things come to those who wait, as they say,” Kanapu chimed. Their hands traced from the tips to bases before wrapping their fingers completely around with a firm hold. They glided slowly and smoothly down Tamatoa’s twin lengths like silk with a bit of a static charge. The sensation caused him to moan, the friction creating a glowing warmth. Kanapu was thoroughly enjoying the fact that the crab had not said any words for a while now. The sounds he was making at the sensual work of their hands was far better than any song as far as Kanapu was concerned._ _

__They could feel with every purposeful stroke that there was more than just a static build up growing in their hands as the melody of moans coming from Tamatoa became more ragged and strained. He could no longer concentrate on continuing to pet Kanapu and that his grip on the eel’s neck got a little more tighter. His bioluminescent glow was flashing so rapidly that it was beginning to blur into one bright pulse. Tamatoa was so close..._ _

__“Oh dear,” Kanapu said in a soft whine. “I have forgotten to tell you the conditions of this arrangement…”_ _

__“C-conditions?!” the crab gulped. That wasn't something Tamatoa wanted to hear this far into it. Kanapu withdrew their claws back toward their body, leaving his arousal all alone and exposed to the cooler air. Kanapu’s head tendrils directed Tamatoa’s face and eyes straight into their fiery gaze._ _

__“Oh yes,” they purred. “I cannot fulfill your wish without one thing from you. But never fret, Tamatoa, it is so very easy to give.”_ _

__He was trembling now with all of his legs grasping the eel's body in desperation for contact and his grip on the eel’s neck a bit tighter, but not so much so that they couldn't whisper their one request._ _

__“Beg.” The eel stroked their paws on his chest to remind him of how close they were to him. “Beg for my gentle mercy and I shall oblige to release you.” The eel licked his neck with a small chuckle. “An easy task for the great and glorious Tamatoa, hm?”_ _

__He had been holding his breath, so all Kanapu heard at first was a weak, breathless whimper. Such sweet music._ _

__“...please,” Tamatoa choked softly._ _

__“What was that? I am so dreadfully hard of hearing,” the eel lied. Tamatoa wasn't currently in the mood for the eel's games and pulled them by the neck even closer._ _

__“You heard me!” he growled._ _

__Kanapu didn't like the aggression and gave a sharp shock in retaliation. “Be nice, my dear Tamatoa. I do this for you. Just show a little humility.”_ _

__He cried out in pain before sighing with defeat. “P-please! I - I’m begging, babe! Just, please!”_ _

__The eel flashed a grin. “As you wish,” Kanapu cooed before their paws clasped around Tamatoa once more with stronger, tight strokes at a more urgent pace. It did not take long for Kanapu bringing him to climax that spilled into their claws and onto their treasure encrusted chest. As the last echo of his guttural roar rang through the darkness of his lair, Tamatoa unceremoniously flopped onto the eel in exhaustion._ _

__Eyes closed, his expression was one of contentment and his glow slowing to more calm pulse. This was the satisifaction Kanapu had hoped for as they continued to stroke the crab’s head with their whiskers. It was almost affectionate for the likes of Kanapu._ _

__However, this was merely a temporary courtesy as they knew as soon as Tamatoa got completely comfortable, they were pushing him off._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have been enjoying the tale of a shiny crab and the eel monster that loves to hate them, there is extra crack content on Tumblr: http://monstersinlalotai.tumblr.com


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